Slitter rewinder



Feb. 25, 1969 E. F. EGAN SLITTER REWINDER Sheet of 5 Filed Aug. 7, 1967 .IIIIIIIIIII u.IlnllIlillli lllldflll 'llllll INVENTOR. .Edu/ard E .Egan BY M firrTcJRNEY Feb. 25, 1969 E. F. EGAN SLITTER REWINDER Sheet 2 of 5 Filed Aug.

l KQ N INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Feb. 25, 1969 E. F. EGAN SLITTER REWINDER Sheet Filed Aug. 7. 1967 l ATTORNEY INVENTOR Edward i.' Egan United States Patent O Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A machine having one or more web winding core holding assemblies each including two core holder arms each of which carries a core chuck cooperative with the core chuck on the other arm for holding a core and the arms being mounted for individual movement relatively to a machine frame to accommodate cores of diferent lengths, one arm including a main portion and a loading portion which is movable relatively to the other arm for loading and removing cores, and there being means connected to said main portion of one arm and to the other arm for simultaneously actuating the arms to move the cores into and out of contact with a driven winding drum.

Background of the invention This invention relates to slitter rewind machines for slitting a web of flexible material into multiple strips and winding these strips on individual cores and more particularly to improvements in slitter rewinds wherein the individual wound rolls are driven by surface contact with a driven Winding drum and, in some cases, may also in addition be center driven through the cores, the latter type being generally known as a dilferential rewinder.

Slitter rewinders of the above types are well known in the art and the construction and operation of the differential slitter rewinder is disclosed in United States Patents 2,777,644 to Nicholson and 3,122,335 to Dusenbury et al. Briefly, these comprise means of unrolling a wide web of material, means of slitting this web into strips, a driven winding drum around which the strips are wrapped for a part of the circumference of the drum, means of supporting cores on which the strips are wound and holding said cores under controlled pressure in contact with the winding drum, and means driving said cores. Two or more sets of cores are provided, each set comprising one or more cores on a common or nearly common axis when in operation and each set of cores contacting the winding drum at a different portion of its circumference and the cores so arranged that adjacent strips are Wound on alternate sets of cores.

When the wound rolls build up to the desired diameter, the rewinder is stopped, the strips severed adjacent to the wound rolls, the linished rolls removed from the machine, new cores mounted in the core holding means, the leading edges of the strips attached to their respective cores and the machine started up again. Since the slitter rewinder is capable of high running speeds, it is evident that the above procedure occupies a considerable portion of the total operational time of slitting and rewinding and that any means that can be applied to shorten the time that the machine is stopped for unloading and loading will result in increased production and lower cost of operation. In addition, it is important that the means for changing the Widths of the finished rolls be such that the time required for these changes be a minimum since this time is non-productive.

Summary The invention provides a core holding means which allows quick and easy removal of wound rolls and load- Cce ing of new cores and also enables quick and easy adjustment to accommodate changes in required widths of strips of material. It is another purpose of the invention to enable the use of winding cores for a wide range of widths of strips varying from nearly full widths of the machine when it is desired to remove only a small width of trim at one or both edges of the strip, to multiple narrow strips of widths of four inches or less.

The invention also contemplates a simple and easily and quickly operable core holding assembly which eliminates the necessity for core shafts or mandrels and wherein the cores can be applied to and removed from the assemblies by simple movement of the core holder arms with their respective core chucks toward and from each other.

Brie) description of the drawings FIGURE l is a side elevation of a .slitter rewinder incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the same, some of the core holders being omitted for clearness in illustration;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged end elevation of the core holding means which are the subject of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the same; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional side elevation taken on line 5 5 of FIGURE 3.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to FIGURES l and 2, numeral 11 designates a roll of paper, film, plastic or like material which is to be slit and rewound into rolls and which is held in conventional unwinder 12. Supported on L-shaped frames 13 are idler rolls 14 and idler roll 15 which maybe movably mounted and connected to a means which acts to control the tension in the web W through a brake on the unwinder shaft, such means being well known in the art.

Main Winder frames 16 are spaced apart and rigidly held in position by cross pieces 17 and mounted in bearings on the top of the frames is winding drum 18 which is rotationally driven at the desired speed by an electric motor, not shown. Atop main frames 16 and extending upwards to connect with the horizontal portions of frames 13 are slitter frames 19, spaced apart and braced by cross piece 20. Extending :between frames 19 and mounted in bearings on the frames are rubber covered pull rolls 21 and 22 and slitter roll 23, said three rolls being geared together by respective gears 21a and 22a, and 23a enclosed in gear case 24 and driven by an electric motor, not shown.

Designated generally by numeral 25 is the slitter assembly which comprises razor blades 26 which are positioned to ride in circumferential grooves in slitter roll 23 and thereby :slit web W into the desired number and width of strips generally designated S as the web passes over the slitter roll. The razor blades are each held in blade holders 27 which are clamped on a dovetail slide on cross piece 28 so that the blades may be positioned at any location desired across the width of the web. Cross piece 28 is supported by slitter arms 29 pivotally connected at their upper end to crank arms 30, said crank arms being rigidly fixed to cross shaft 31 which is oscillated through a small arc by means of gear motor 32, link 33 and crank arm 34 rigidly connected to the cross shaft. The oscillatory movement of the cross shaft is translated into a reciprocating motion of arms 29 and thence to the razor blades 26, the object of such motion lbeing to continuously change the Contact point of the web on the blade, thus distributing the wear over nearly all the length of the blade and thereby increasing the life of the blade. The lower portion of the slitter assembly is supported by means of extensions 35 to arms 29 resting on the outer races of ball bearings 36 mounted on the journals of the slitter roll 23 thereby positioning the razor blades away from contact with the bottom of the grooves in the slitting roll and at the same time allowing the reciprocating motion of the slitter assembly. The slitter assembly may be raised to disengage the blades from the grooves in the roll by partial rotation of cross shaft 37 on which are iixed two eccentrics 38 bearing against the slitter arms 29 when it is desired to move the razor blades to a different position. For threading the web through the machine, the slitter assembly may be moved away from the slitter roll several inches by actuation of air cylinders 39 whose piston rods contact lugs 40 on the slitter arms and thereby rotate the slitter assembly in a clockwise direction about the pivot on cranks 30.

The present invention is not limited to slitter rewinders incorporating slitters as described above since the slitting mechanism forms no part of the invention, but may be used with any of the other known types of slitters such as score cut, shear cut, etc.

Below the slitter and pull rolls is idler roll 41 which leads the slit strips S from the slitter roll to the winding drum.

On either side of the winding drum are the core holding assemblies which are the subject of the present invention, one such assembly being shown in enlarged views Iby FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. The number of core holder assemblies required will be directly dependent upon the number of strips being wound and since all core holder assemblies are identical only one will be described in detail. On the top surface of cross piece 17 is machined dovetail piece 50 upon which U-shaped pvot brackets 51 and 52 are clamped by means of screws 53 and gibs 54a. By loosening screws 53 the pivot brackets may be moved along the length of cross piece 17 to any desired location at which point they are again clamped to the dovetail 50. In the upper portion of pivot brackets 51 and 52 are iixed pivot pins 54 and 55 respectively. Pivoted about pivot pin 55 and located between the two vertical legs of pivot bracket 52 is drive side core holder arm 56 at the upper end of which is driven core chuck 57 having shaft extension 57a rotatably held in bearings in arm 56. Core chuck 57 is driven by means of hydraulic motor 58 through gears 59, 60, 61 and 62, said gears being located in a hollowed out portion of arm 56 and enclosed by cover plate 63. On the side of arm 56 away from the winding drum is projection 56a on which is located hinged clamp 64 and clamp screw 64a which rigidly clamp one end of arm actuating bar 65.

Pivoted about pivot pin 54 and located between the two vertical legs of pivot bracket 51 is loading side arm 66 having a projection 66a, clamp 67 and clamp screw 68 all similar to that on drive side arm 56 described above, the clamp holding the other end of arm actuating bar 65. Pivoted about the lower portion of arm 66 on pivot pin 69 is yoked shaped loading arm 70 at the upper end of which is stub shaft 71 upon which is mounted core chuck 72 turning freely on bearing 73. Movement of arm 70 is accomplished by means of fluid cylinder 74 connected at one end to arm 70 through pin 75 and projection 70a on arm 70 and at the other end to arm 66 through pin 76 and extension arm 66b, rigidly connected to arm 66. In FIG- URE 3 arm 70 is shown in the open position allowing the insertion of winding core C or the removal of a fully Wound roll at the completion of winding, Actuation of cylinder 74 moves arm 70 into the closed position, the core chuck 72 entering the core C and holding it tightly between core chucks 57 and 72.

Movement of the core holding assembly toward or away from the winding durm 18 is accomplished by means of uid cylinder 80 having piston rod 81 and rod head 82 connected to arm actuating bar 65 between arms 56 and 70, bar 65 having a free iit in rod head 82. The lower or head end of cylinder 80 is pivotally mounted on bracket 83 which is slidably held on dovetail piece 84 extending the length of cross piece 17 and clamped in the desired position by screw 85.

With the slitter assembly held in the retracted position away from the slitter roll by action of cylinders 39, the

web W is threaded from the unroll 11 around idler rolls 14, tension roll 15, pull rolls 21 and 22, and around the slitter roll 23. The slitters are moved into slitting position on the slitting roll and the threading continued until the slit strips S are threaded around idler roll 41 and onto the winding drum 18. Referring to FIGURE 2, the strips designated by S are shown as individual strips S1 and S11 inclusive. At this time the core holder assemblies are held in the retracted position away from the winding drum by action of the cylinders 80, this retracted position being designated Y on FIGURE 1. New cores C of the correct length are placed on `driven core chucks 57 and locked in place by the closing of loading arms 70 under action of cylinders 74. Each core holder is then moved into operating position with the core in Contact with the winding drum by means of cylinders and the ends of the strips fastened to the cores, adjacent strips being fastened to alternate cores on each side of the winding drum. For ex' ample, again referring to FIGURE 2, strips designated S1, S3, S5, S1, S9 and S11 are fastened to cores C on the left of the winding drum 18 as viewed in FIGURE l; and strips S2, 5.1, S6, S8 and S10 are fastened to cores C on the right of the winding drum. It will be evident that the slitters may be located to cut any number of strips with each strip being of any ldesired width within limitations as will be discussed later. Winding is now started and continued until the rolls have reached the required diameter at which time winding is stopped, the core holders retracted, the core loading arms opened, the wound rolls removed, new cores mounted, the core loading arms closed and the core holders returned to contact the cores on the winding drum. When narrow strips are being wound such as S1, S2 and S3 on FIGURE 2, the wound strip roll S1 would be removed rst and then the empty S1 core holder assembly moved toward the winding drum to allow clearance for opening the core holder assembly for the adjacent S3 strip roll. The above operations are accomplished by manipulation of two valves controlling the uid cylinders 74 and 80 on each core holder. A most important advantage over prior art obtained by the present invention is the elimination of core shafts or mandrels which require considerable time to remove from the wound rolls and insert into the new cores, and also require relatively complex means to mount in the core holder assembly. In addition, the use of shafts or mandrels requires a large inventory of these shafts or mandrels since they must be available in various lengths to correspond to the desired width of the strips to be wound.

When it is desired to change the width of the wound strips, the clamps 64 and 67 on the core holder arms are opened and the arm actuating bar 65 removed by withdrawing it through the hole in rod head 82. Pivot brackets 51 and 52 can now be moved along dovetail 50 to the desired position after loosening clamp screws 53 and then clamped in said position. A new arm actuating bar 65 of the correct length to suit the new slit width is placed in the rod head and clamped in the core holder arms as before. If required, the air cylinder 80 may be centered midway between the two core holder arms by sliding it along dovetail 84 as shown on strip S7 on FIGURE 2. It should be noted that it is not necessary to stock a large number of different lengths of arm actuating bars 65 since each length is suitable for a range of widths of the wound rolls. For example, with strips of equal widths, bars of 8, 10, 14, 22, 38 and 70 inches in length will cover all widths from 4 inches to 67 inches.

An alternate method of construction (not shown) allows the elimination of the arm actuating bars 65'by providing a fluid cylinder similar to cylinder 80 for each of the drive side core holder arms 56 and the loading side arm 66. Referring to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, a pair of uid cylinders 80 would be provided for each core holding assembly, each cylinder being mounted to dovetail bar 84 by means of brackets similar to brackets 83. The rod head S2 of one cylinder is then pivotally attached to loading side arm projection 66a while the second cylinder is in a similar manner pivotally attached to drive side arm projection 56a. The pair of cylinders are actuated simultaneosuly to move the core holder arms toward and away from the winding drum. In this manner it becomes unnecessary to provide arm actuating bar 65 connecting the loading and drive side arms. When either the loading or drive side arm or both is moved to new positions along dovetail 50 to accommodate different width of slit webs, the respective cylinder 80 would be moved at the same time along dovetail 84.

In the event that the number of core holders on machine exceeds the number of rolls to be Wound, the unused core holders may be left in the retracted position or if desired, removed from the machine by unclamping them from the cross piece. It is not necessary to remove any of the cylinders S0 as the unused ones may be retracted and rested against the cross piece 17. When winding very wide widths, it is advantageous to use more than one cylinder 80 in conjunction with each core holder assembly.

The present invention permits the winding of a greater range of widths than has heretofore been possible. The maximum strip width is limited only by the width of the rewinding machine while the minimum strip width is determined by the overall width of the core holder assembly as designated D on FIGURES 2 and 3, the minimum slit width being one half of this dimension. It has been found that this dimension D can be held to slightly less than 8 inches in the embodiment of the winder shown here resulting in a minimum slit-width of 4 inches or less.

It is, therefore, evident that the novel core holder described herein provides a simple, fast means of loading cores and unloading finished rolls on a slitter rewiuder, provides a simple, fast means of changing the widths and numbers of slit strips, and at the same time allows the winding of a large range of slit widths from a minimum of about 4 inches to a maximum limited only by the width of the slitter rewinder.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for winding a web of material on a core wherein a core-holding assembly includes iirst and second spaced core-holder arms which are adapted to rotatably support a core between them and are pivotally mountedfor movement of the core into and out of contact with a driven Winding drum, characterized by a pivot bracket for each arm mounted on a support, a core chuck rotatably mounted on the lirst arm, the second arm including a main portion pivoted in the corresponding bracket and a loading arm pivoted on said main portion to swing toward and from the iirst arm, and a core chuck rotatably mounted on said loading arm to cooperate with said chuck on the irst arm for rotatably supporting a core.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein there is a fluid-actuated means connecting said main portion and said loading arm for actuating said loading arm toward and from the rst arm for the loading and removal of cores.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein there is means connected to both said iirst arm and said main portion of the second arm for simultaneously swinging the arms toward and away from the winding drum about their respective pivotal mountings in said brackets to move a core in said chucks into and out of contact with said winding drum.

4. Apparatus as deiined in claim 3 wherein the lastnamed means includes a bar separably connected to said first arm and to said main portion of the second arm and a reciprocating motor having a piston rod connected to said bar.

5. Apparatus as Idefined in claim 4 wherein there are means mounting said brackets for movement selectively toward and away from each other thus varying the distance between said core chucks to accommodate cores of different lengths and thereby provide for winding webs of dilerent Widths.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,777,644- 1/ 1957 Nicholson 242-65 3,052,422 9/1962 Moser et al 242-68.4 3,188,016 6/1965 Aaron 242-65 NATHAN L. MINTZ, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 242- 

